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slow CD-ROM

I have a Optics Storage 16x 4481 CD-ROM drive installed on my Pentium 100. It works, although only for certain CDs. Programs which autorun off the CD-ROM, such as Win98, work fine, but if I want to install any large programs, the CD seems to scan for a while, slowly begin the installation process, and then prompt that the CD can't be found. A 50Mb installation will typically take half an hour, a 100Mb installation won't work at all.
I have uninstalled the CD-ROM's DOS drivers. Win98 doesn't seem to recognise the CD-ROM drive is there, even though the CD-ROM works.
Any ideas?
Cheers, Barry

Is the CD-ROM connected through the Primary or Secondary IDE interface?

If it's connected to Primary (same cable as your harddrive), then I suggest you buy an IDE cable and install your CD-ROM on your Secondary IDE instead. The cable should cost you 1 USD or so (or for free if you happen to be a familar face at the shop) =)

Make sure you set the jumper on the back of the drive to Master.

There should be a jumper with putitions such as MA, SL, CL. Put it on the MA position. Some CD-ROM's seems to have the small plastic jumper missing and that could be the reason to why Win98 couldn't find it. Just go to any computer shop and ask if they have a spare jumper for you. They're standard size and you should get one for free.

DO NOT ever use the DOS drivers and MSCDEX.EXE under Win9X. It will access your CD-ROM in 16bit mode and slow down your CD-ROM to a crawl.